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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Psychological First Aid by Johns Hopkins University

4.8
stars
19,148 ratings

About the Course

Learn to provide psychological first aid to people in an emergency by employing the RAPID model: Reflective listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition. Utilizing the RAPID model (Reflective listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition), this specialized course provides perspectives on injuries and trauma that are beyond those physical in nature. The RAPID model is readily applicable to public health settings, the workplace, the military, faith-based organizations, mass disaster venues, and even the demands of more commonplace critical events, e.g., dealing with the psychological aftermath of accidents, robberies, suicide, homicide, or community violence. In addition, the RAPID model has been found effective in promoting personal and community resilience. Participants will increase their abilities to: - Discuss key concepts related to PFA - Listen reflectively - Differentiate benign, non-incapacitating psychological/ behavioral crisis reactions from more severe, potentially incapacitating, crisis reactions - Prioritize (triage) psychological/ behavioral crisis reactions - Mitigate acute distress and dysfunction, as appropriate - Recognize when to facilitate access to further mental health support - Practice self-care Developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Open Education Lab....

Top reviews

ED

May 22, 2020

I am very happy and satisfied with the course program. In fact, I am excited to apply what I have learned and also looking forward to enroll in another course. Thank you for this learning opportunity!

PG

Feb 9, 2017

A very helpful course and full of practical information for persons interfered with disaster relief and crisis intervention as this course has a well- planned syllabus and really informative vignettes

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4026 - 4050 of 4,521 Reviews for Psychological First Aid

By Gwendolyn U M

Apr 30, 2020

The content was easy to understand, and the simulation of what not to do and what to do were very helpful. I just wish there were more examples or exercises for us to apply RAPID, so we can put theory into practice, even if they're just practice sessions. It could be broken down per letter and then done as a whole in the end. But in total, I was happy with the course coverage. The concepts were clear and concise.

By Khrystelle-Gaelle M

Apr 28, 2020

I would like to say many thanks to everyone who was behind and in the fronts to make this course available and free for people online. Earning a certificate for a course is one thing, but having such an applied and interactive, even through online lessons, is another thing. I am well aware that this course will be useful to me presently and in the future. Hope to see more courses like these ones in the future!

By Amalia S

May 18, 2018

well structured and interesting. I would prefer however, to have more practical questions and steps in order to be able to understand in depth how to offer the needed help in case of emergencies.

The videos were not clear enough in the sense of distinguishing between a nice approach and a bad approach and I think that it would also be helpful to have more than one stories developed in the case scenarios.

By Dawn M

Jan 24, 2017

This course was very informative and helpful, especially for a beginner's course. I wish I would have been exposed to different scenarios of situations people face. For example, dealing with a death, mass shootings, terrorist attacks, more natural disasters like earthquakes or tornados, and even abuse. However, learning the basic terms and how to approach and speak to others was very helpful. Thank you!!!

By Lynne Y E L

May 24, 2020

It would have been nice to know the answers and rationale behind the quiz questions that I got wrong. The way it is set up now still leaves me unsure of why I got it wrong. Otherwise, the materials are presented in a very accessible manner. The format of transcribed lecture is extremely helpful for those of us who are visual processors versus Auditory processors. Thanks for making this course available.

By Oscar

Apr 29, 2020

This course has introduce me to be to the world on crisis intervention and preparation. The course offers great knowledge, training, and situations on how to respond to each situation. What I learned from this course is when disaster strikes, the respond to an individual is never the same so you have to active listen and reflective listen to best respond to each individual's need to help others recover.

By Nina L

Dec 3, 2019

I get a basic understanding of PFA but I do hope I can learn more theories and materials through this course. The method of reflective listening real helps me to think about the way I communicate with people. And the methods and theory really help me to do better work if things really happen. I think everyone needs to have the basic knowledge of PFA but I hope there are more things to be learned.

By LAVANYAH A A

Nov 12, 2020

It was very interesting and made me reflect upon how I have been responding to someone in distress previously. It helped me identify what I was doing wrong or not enough up to now. There were a couple approaches I disagreed with in the simulation but it made sense after watching the lectures. I enjoyed learning the material but some documentary clips made me feel a little depressed and stressed.

By Malavika S

Sep 6, 2020

It has been an insightful experience throughout the course. It made me think about the wonders that can be worked upon by reflectively or actively listening to a person in need. The course has helped me to stay resilient and tackle my own demons. It has also made me understand the importance of self-care which aids us to stay sane and thrive; and thus being a serene presence for those in need.

By Jing X

Jul 20, 2020

Reflectively listening is not only important for people working in this field, but for people like me who have difficulty comforting others in daily life. I always listen to others' stories quitely and give them my suggestions that they actually don't need at all. I will look to be an active listener and try to make them feel better, rather than drain my brain for a 'useless' piece of advice.

By Kimberly A C

Apr 20, 2020

I found the Instructor to have excellent tempo and tone in videos; the material was concise and applicable. I have a background in Emergency Management and I believe PFA is often overlooked. This is a good course for anyone, even those who won't ever work in Disaster Management, as the techniques are applicable in regular job situations, where people deal with traumatic things that happen too.

By Deleted A

May 25, 2021

Excellent course for beginners and with no background in Psychology. The course material is very simple to understand with lay man language. The professor's communication style is very clear and precise. Only thing is history related quiz should be skipped as prime focus is learning the insights of the subject. However, more practical knowledge is required for career in this field. Thank You!

By Dr N S

Nov 22, 2020

This short course helps to get a quick background for response in times of emergency by helping those affected by providing 'psychological first aid'. The content of the course is 'to the point' and with videos of sharing by real life disaster management team members. Questions of the quiz are based on these video abstracts and assess your understanding rather than just theory alone!

By Lai M Y

May 9, 2020

The explanation is very clear. The videos short and simple. Brings the message across. I like the quiz which helps me to understand the material better.

I wish for more videos or teaching on prioritisation. This was the most difficult for me.

A nice to have - more videos would be assessment and intervention.

Maybe one more example would be just nice to show all these three.

Thank you.

By Arvind S D

Apr 16, 2020

I am the student of Psychology, but due to some reason i left my studies. And i haven't enough bugs to enrol for the paid online certification course. So, I would like to thank John Hopkins University as well as Coursera for providing this without any course. By this course i am quite confident that i use PFA technique in need to help others.

Again Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

By Ming

Dec 18, 2019

Useful knowledge to know and use in emergency situations that could happen anytime. Terminology are alright to understand even with no psychological background although some background knowledge would be good. A behind the scene take into effectiveness and impact of immediate psychology first aid is just as important as physical first aid in an aftermath of such situations.

By Maria F

Feb 26, 2016

I am very happy to be able to refresh learning more of this skill as I will not know when things can happen. I would like to be able to do something if it does even when there are particular help groups to sweep on the field so to speak..

Learning the skills gives me the confidence that I can make a difference however small it may be.

THANKS a lot for boosting my knowledge.

By Fairuz S

Nov 23, 2020

So grateful I finally managed to take this course. The course structure and layout was just right, love how the lectures were short enough, and there's a transcript underneath. Perhaps I may not require to apply this training as I'm not a public health educator or in that setting, but I think the skills about active listening I will carry all my life. Definitely worth it

By Christina H

May 10, 2020

Fantastic content, very well communicated and a straightforward journey. The timing, pace and volume of the content was well designed. I rated 4 stars as I did have some difficulties with navigation e.g. sometimes I repeated a video and my completion wasn't recorded, it took a little while to get a hang of the platform. I will definitely recommend this course. Thank you.

By Paula R V

Oct 15, 2020

I think this was an incredible course, especially because it is a course designed for every individual who wants to be a crisis interventionist; therefore you don't need any prior knowledge of mental health. Therefore, this course is an introductory course or a 101 on PFA. I will continue to take some courses on this topic to amplify my knowledge and be more prepared.

By Sharbella C U

May 17, 2020

It was a really helpful and informative course. However, there are certain topics that I think is valuable but wasn't discussed. How do we conduct psychological first aid to children and people with special needs (ie. blind, deaf, mute). I think they are also capable of experiencing extreme stress during a crisis. Still, I highly recommend this course to everyone.

By Daniel W

Jun 2, 2017

A good overview of the topic by a lecturer who knows his stuff and whose videos are actually ... enjoyable is the wrong word ... interesting to watch. Duration of the course is misleading, you can do the whole course in about a day. So my only complaint is that I would have like to have more information about the topic. (But hey, there's a literature list! :-))

By Arooj A

Nov 13, 2020

I really enjoy the course. I learn how to help person in disasters, enter the dark days of someone's life and give them hope. Provide empathy rather than sympathy. I learn the ability to not just sit beside someone metaphorically but to sit beside them. With this I learn great skills that make me to help children, worker or any other human being I encounter.

By Serdar K

May 8, 2020

The techniques taught here came to me a little naive. They can work out very well in rich countries and where people live in solitude. But they will not work in poor countries where interpersonal support is already strong. We should rather apply monetary first aid in those countries. Nevertheless, I'll try to use these techniques in everyday life for fun.